Florida State coach Mike Norvell said his team “is on the same page” a day after a trio of recipients took to Twitter, raising concerns about testing and transparency during the coronavirus pandemic.
Norvell was brusque in his answers to questions about Thursday’s social media posts, which came from Tamorrion Terry, DJ Matthews and Warren Thompson. Norvell said he has not spoken to any of those players about their concerns.
Cindy Rewis, Terry’s caretaker, also tweeted Thursday, asking for more transparency from Norvell, and she said on Friday that she had not heard from the coach.
In a Twitter post, Thompson said, “It has been shown to me and the rest that our leadership is based on an ‘I’ mentality with them only worried about their own future instead of about their own athletes … I have been ridiculed to talk about this issue and it should be addressed to me to continue the season safely. “
Norvell denied those allegations Thursday, saying the program was transparent and followed all required protocols.
The recipients tweeted their concerns during Florida State’s practice on Thursday. Shortly after the practice ended, several other Seminoles took to social media to express their support for the program, including stars such as cornerback Asante Samuel, defensive end Joshua Kaindoh and defensive tackle Marvin Wilson.
“We want to allow people to have their own voice on social media. We want people to express their own opinions,” Seminoles told Camren McDonald. “Well, with that said, I feel like guys need to be more police-minded and just really lie back and think about what they want to say on social media. If you really want to say that and stand by it, then by all means, go for it and put it out … I do not think we will social media police or try to silence people. “
“I feel safe with what FSU Football is doing for us through this pandemic and keeping us safe,” Wilson tweeted.
Earlier in the summer, Wilson threatened to boycott a player when Norvell misrepresented talks he had with the team after George Floyd was killed while in police custody.
Norvell acknowledged that he had made a mistake by then, but he was far from holding on Thursday in the wake of Thompson’s criticism.
“The integrity of how we work, I stand by every day,” Norvell said.
Norvell was specifically asked why he had not reached out to Thompson and whether he had fully charged the team following the allegations.
“I will tell you that this team is on the same page, that is where I will leave it,” he said.
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